Arthur Rackham

Many artists have created works based on The Ring Cycle but without doubt the best known, and most popular, are the 64 plates and 2 frontpiece sketches Arthur Rackham created for the two volume gift editions of The Ring of the Nibelung in 1910 & 1911.

First editions of the original collections, with ‘tipped-in’ plates and some editions signed by Rackham are hard to find and will set you back a few thousands pounds. Luckily they have been reprinted many times and the pictures themselves are available in a couple of collections at low cost, though some of the reproductions are not great quality.

I’ve acquired the scans below from a library edition of the original tipped-in plates so the quality is th ebest I’ve found. The whole series of 64 images and two sketches is presented here for you viewing pleasure – enjoy! Click on a gallery to cycle through the images and on any single image to zoom in.